Chester Gould (Person) - Comic Vine Chester Gould No recent wiki edits to this page. Early Life and Education Chester Gould was born on November 20, 1900 in Pawnee, Oklahoma to Alice (Miller) and Gilbert Gould. Growing up in Pawnee created fond memories for Gould. At age seven, he discovered the comic strips section of the local newspaper. Not content to merely read the comics, young Gould would copy the cartoons from the newspaper and add his own captions and dialogue. The following year his father prompted him to sketch some of the local politicians at the Pawnee Courthouse who were meeting for the Democratic County Convention of 1908. Some of his sketches were taped to the courthouse windows by his father. One of the men, a lawyer on the Supreme Court, is impressed by Gould’s artwork and buys the sketch from him. At age fourteen, Chester Gould enters his first cartoon contest. A trade magazine was offering a $5.00 prize to the best cartoon illustrating the popularity of the movies. Gould’s cartoon won first prize. With success under his belt, he pursued cartooning with a passion. Just three years later he entered another art contest. This time it was the American Boy Magazine.

Gould again won first place, taking home an amazing ten dollars in prize money. Gould in 1932 In 1918, Oklahoma A&M College discovered Gould’s talent for caricatures and cartooning. At their request, he does most of the cartoon artwork in their 1918 and 1919 A&M Year Books. Chester’s success continued as the editor of The Tulsa Democrat hired him to draw eighteen political cartoons. Gould completes the drawings in one month and is paid $35.00. In 1919, Gould moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma to attend Oklahoma A&M College where he enrolled as a freshman majoring in Commerce and Marketing. During his sophomore year, The Daily Oklahoman Newspaper in Oklahoma City hired Gould to do a sports cartoon about athletes in the news. As with his former artistic endeavors, this too is a great success. Early Career in Cartooning On August 30, 1921, at the age of 21, Chester Gould left Oklahoma and moved to Chicago. With high hopes and bags packed he rented a room and took his portfolio of editorial and sports cartoons to the Chicago Tribune.

Unfortunately, the Tribune did not have any positions open for Gould, so he applied at the Chicago Journal. At the Chicago Journal a cartoonist was out because of illness, so Gould was hired as a temp at $30 per week. By 1922 Gould finally found work with the Chicago Tribune. As a member of their Art Services Department, he drew advertising art for $50.00 a week. In the meantime, he still submitted comic strip ideas to J. M. Patterson, but without success. In 1923 Chester Gould graduated from Northwestern University. After graduation he is hired by the Evening American at $60.00 a week. Gould signs a 5-year contract with the Evening American and begins drawing two comic strips—The Radio Catts, a hilarious strip about radio and Fillum Fables an adventure strip. With the Evening American he also reviews the top billings at Chicago theaters and draws caricatures of leading stars such as Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, and Sophie Tucker. As his portfolio grows, Gould continues to create comic strip ideas, sending them to J. M. Patterson, still without success.

On a blind date in 1925 Chester Gould meets Edna Gauger. The following year they are married on November 6, 1926. Later that year they move to Wilmette, Illinois. In 1927 their daughter Jean Gould is born. In 1928 Gould leaves the Evening American, and goes to the Daily News. He reverts back to advertising art, does some editorial cartoons, and draws a strip called The Girl Friends. The Creation of Dick Tracy By 1931 Chester Gould had created sixty different comic strip ideas and sent them to J. M. Patterson, all without success. Still at the Daily News, Gould submits his sixty-first idea. One month later, a telegram is received which reads, “Believe Plainclothes Tracy has possibilities. Would like to see you when I go to Chicago. Please call Tribune office Monday about noon for an appointment. J. M. Patterson.” Gould met with J. M. Patterson on August 15, 1931. Patterson commented that the name Plainclothes Tracy was too long. “They call cops ‘Dicks.’ Let’s call him Dick Tracy,” he suggested.

At that time all Tribune-owned comic strips were directed by Patterson as to how they begin. Dick Tracy was no different. “Have call on his girl and have dinner with her family. They want to get married. That night hoodlums break in and stick up her father and kill him. You take it from there.” Patterson concluded. Thus was the beginning of Dick Tracy in 1931. Gould quickly enrolled in a criminology course taught at Northwestern University that was taught by Calvin Goddard. Chester Gould became a familiar face at the State Street Police Department crime lab and was given carte blanche status to visit the crime lab as needed. So Chester Gould officially joined the Chicago Tribune on October 4, 1931. Dick Tracy first appeared in the Detroit Mirror, a Chicago Tribune owned paper. Gould’s great story telling combined with Dick Tracy’s detective work became a national hit. Continued Success Tribute to Chester Gould In 1935 Gould bought a farm and sixty acres near the town of Woodstock, Illinois, 60 miles northwest of Chicago. Gould would travel to his Tribune Tower office 6 days a week. By 1947, Dick Tracy became a household name.

In 1953 Chester Gould would hire Al Valanis, a retired Chicago policeman, to check his work for police accuracy. In the following years, Gould would rise in celebrity status, appearing on such shows as “To Tell the Truth,” “Person to Person,” and Ralph Edward’s “This is Your Life.” Chester Gould retired on December 25, 1977 at the age of 77. After 46-years, 2-months, and 21-days of writing and drawing Dick Tracy, he never missed a deadline. After retirement, Gould continued to receive recognition and awards, including Northwestern University’s highest recognition, the Alumni Medal. On May 11, 1985 Chester Gould died of congestive heart failure at age 84. Creations of Gould Chester Gould: Changing Cartoons Changing Cartoons Jessica Hurt Geneva High School, Geneva Chester Gould, the creator of Dick Tracy and winner of two Reuben Awards for "Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year," inductee into the Chicago Journalism Hall of Fame, and guest on the Ed Sullivan Show, merely regarded himself as "a glorified newspaper boy, hired to sell newspapers," according to his daughter Jean Gould O'Connell.

Chester Gould's success with Dick Tracy was largely based on realism and the theme of good versus evil. Chester Gould transformed the Sunday "funny papers" into a realistic depiction of modern mobster life, complete with colorful characters and plot lines. Chester Gould was born in Pawnee, Oklahoma, on November 20, 1900. He made his way from Pawnee to Chicago, Illinois, in 1921. It took Gould ten years to be hired as a cartoonist with the Chicago Tribune. Chester Gould drew Dick Tracy for forty-six years. In 1935 Gould and his family purchased a farmhouse in Woodstock, Illinois, where he lived until his death in 1985. Chester Gould's characters in Dick Tracy mirrored those of the Chicago mobster scene. Gould realized that a new type of hero was needed, a modern Sherlock Holmes. From this surfaced Dick Tracy, a logical and model detective. Chester Gould changed the standards for comic strip heroes. "No cartoon had ever shown a detective character fighting it out face to face with crooks via the hot lead route," wrote Gould. This was real life, and the public wanted to read about good conquering evil.

The characters in Dick Tracy were unmistakably evil, with names like Pruneface, Flattop, The Brow, and Breathless Mahoney. Their names were strikingly similar to criminals like Al "Scareface" Capone, "Baby Face" Nelson, and Bonnie and Clyde. The crimes that the characters committed were also similar to those of the big time crooks. To break the monotony of violence, Gould used relief characters. These new characters would interest readers and bring them back to the newsstands day after day. Two of the most famous relief characters were Gravel Gertie and B. O. Plenty, a married couple. Anticipation built about the birth of the homely couple's child for weeks. To the surprise of the other characters, a beautiful baby girl was born. Readers loved the new baby Sparkle, and so did Life magazine and the Ideal Toy Company. Ideal Toy Company produced Sparkle dolls only weeks after her "birth." Chester Gould was able to keep readers interested in his comic strip not only by his characters but also the plot lines of Dick Tracy. Chester Gould made sure that his readers would not be able to guess the outcome before he guessed it himself.

He accomplished this by not knowing himself until he sat down at his drawing board. This ILLINOIS HISTORY/APRIL 1997 43 The news room at the Chicago Tribune was probably a familiar place to Gould, who worked for the paper for forty-six years. technique enabled his comics to have twists and turns along with complex plots. Some of Gould's plot lines were incredibly similar to news of the time. In the case of the Lindbergh kidnapping in March 1932, Gould presented a parallel story two days after a ransom pickup in the Lindbergh case was staged. Comparisons can be made between the comic and real life. The sons of John H. Waldof, standing for Charles Lindbergh, were kidnapped. Differences between the two were considerable. In the comic the kidnapping was clearly a gang job and in real life Al Capone denied any mob involvement. The outcomes were different. The Waldof baby was safely returned to his mother; the Lindbergh baby was found murdered. It was plot lines like this that made Dick Tracy a success. Tracy would arrive at the scene of a gruesome crime and at the beginning of next week's panel he would catch the crook.

What also made Dick Tracy appealing to readers was its authentic look at police affairs. Chester Gould hired retired police officer and artist Al Valandis to make sure every detail was correct. Gould viewed authenticity as a necessary element in Dick Tracy. From the beginning, Gould had always supported the law enforcement community. Gould and Valandis began placing Crimestopper tips in the Sunday editions of Dick Tracy. These tips gave extra information about the crooks and also how to stop them. Gould himself had extensive knowledge about police procedures and conduct. He wanted to keep Tracy ahead of the rest in technology. Dick Tracy tapped phones, used an x-ray machine, and wore a two-way radio, which were all very ahead of his time. All of this added to the persona of Dick Tracy as a straight-shooting, fearless, and utterly dedicated detective. The elements in Dick Tracy, such as the characters, its authenticity, and the plot lines made it a success. People wanted a real crime fighter and someone who stood for everything that was good, and who helped good triumph over evil. That is what Dick Tracy delivered to the Chicago Tribune in 1931.

If people wanted to read about mobsters who had the upper hand, they could turn to the front page of the Tribune. Chester Gould created Dick Tracy's character with the belief that crime does not pay, and that is what a city like Chicago, still recovering from the Great Depression, needed. That is what Captain J. M. Patterson of the Chicago Tribune, as well as its readers, saw in Dick Tracy. Even Gould himself could never have imagined what a success Dick Tracy would become. Although Chester Gould is deceased, his memory lives on through his work. The comic strip, Dick Tracy, can still be found today among the pages of the Chicago Tribune and in papers across the United States. The Crimestoppers organization is still actively functioning today. The dedication and creativity of Chester Gould not only as a cartoonist and artist, but also as a master storyteller is evident in every panel of Dick Tracy.-[From Arthur A.

Berger, The Comic-Stripped American; Jay Maeder, Dick Tracy: The Official Biography; student historian's interview with Jean Gould O'Connell, November 20, 1996; James Van Hise, Calling Tracy!] 44 ILLINOIS HISTORY / APRIL 1997 Art Spiegelman Dick Tracy, Chester Gould, and More | Wexner Center for the Arts Home » Calendar » Public Programs » Art Spiegelman Dick Tracy, Chester Gould, and More Art Spiegelman Dick Tracy, Chester Gould, and More Public Programs Art Spiegelman Residency Events Thu, May 19, 2011 4 PM Art Spiegelman shares his appreciation for comics’ most famous police detective, Dick Tracy, as well as the art of the character’s creator, Chester Gould, who wrote and drew the strip for more than four decades in this lecture. An expert on the history of his field, Spiegelman analyzes Gould’s work and places it within the greater context of comics’ history.

His residency is a collaboration between the Wex and Ohio State’s Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, and he intends to develop a new project based on research in the Cartoon Library & Museum’s collection. While you are here, check out the exhibition Dick Tracy: Chester Gould's Blueprint Expressionism, on view May 2‒August 19 in the cartoon library and museum. CHESTER GOULD, CARTOONIST, DIES AT AT 84 - NYTimes.com CHESTER GOULD, CARTOONIST, DIES AT AT 84 By ALBIN KREBS Published: May 12, 1985 Chester Gould, who created Dick Tracy, the durable comic-strip detective who began fighting outlandishly colorful criminals in 1931, died of congestive heart failure yesterday at his home in Woodstock, Ill. He was 84 years old and had been in ill health after having suffered a heart attack recently. In creating Dick Tracy, Mr. Gould shattered the American comic-strip tradition. He invented a hero who was not intended to be humorous.

Tracy dealt grimly with murderers and racketeers - he was not the standard ''funny papers'' hero who was obsessed with the pleasures of eating spinach or hamburgers. In short, Mr. Gould's ''Dick Tracy'' was the first uncomic comic strip. Thousands of devotees of the square-jawed Tracy did, of course, find humor, most of it perhaps unintentional, in the strip. But the strip also drew protests from some that Mr. Gould's depiction of crime was too gruesome, that he poured on too much gore and carnage, and that his villains, such as Flyface, Pruneface and the Mole, were not only exaggerated in concept, but also loathsome to look at. Far-Famed Sleuth That the strip was one of the most popular ever to appear in newspapers is indisputable. In the late 1940's, the dapper Dick Tracy was found to be the second-best-known American - just behind Bing Crosby and ahead of President Truman - in a poll of teen-agers.

At one point, in the late 1950's, the Tracy strip was carried in nearly 1,000 newspapers worldwide, and was said to have been read by an estimated 65 million people a day. Al Capp, a fellow cartoonist who created the popular ''Li'l Abner'' comic strip, paid Mr. Gould a high compliment by regularly inserting into ''Li'l Abner'' a takeoff of Dick Tracy called ''Fearless Fosdick.'' It was a comic strip-within-the-strip that featured a granite-jawed detective with a manic fondness for perforating both criminal suspects and innocent bystanders with multiple bullet holes. Mr. Gould continued to draw and write ''Dick Tracy'' until his retirement in 1977, when the strip was 46 years old. It has lived on as the work of two other artists, and in 1983 Paramount Pictures announced it would produce a movie based on the exploits of the dauntless detective in the black suit and the snap-brim fedora. Of the Tracy strip's impact on his readers, Mr.

Gould once commented, ''I just want them to say, 'I wonder what that damned fool Gould did today.' '' Specialist in Mayhem Some of the things he did were quite attention-getting, particularly when he decided to kill off one of his villains. The demise of the fiendish hag Mrs. Pruneface was comparatively mild -she drowned in a swimming pool in 1943. Flattop, whose head was modeled after a World War II aircraft carrier, also drowned, wedged in underwater pilings. But to do in a particularly repulsive criminal called the Brow, Mr. Gould contrived to have him impaled on a flagpole. And the villainous Doc Hump was killed by a mad dog. Then there was the Midget, whose wife carried him around in a satchel. He was scalded to death in a Turkish bath. And the nefarious B. B. Eyes met a most timely demise by being smothered under the cargo of a garbage scow. Such violence brought complaints from readers and from the editors of some newspapers that carried the strip. They said Mr.

Gould depicted violence too often, allowed his hero to shoot first and ask questions later in his pursuit of law and order, and splashed blood a bit too indiscriminately. To such criticism, the cartoonist replied: ''So long as the violence doesn't go too far, and I have never let it do that, it's valid. Blood in itself is not repulsive. Police work is the most bloody and miserable on earth. Any policeman on night duty sees far more blood than I ever put in my strip. Of course, brutality for its own sake is taboo.'' Early Work Chester Gould was born Nov. 20, 1900, in Pawnee, Okla., and was reared in Stillwater, Okla., where his father was the editor of a weekly newspaper. At age 15 he took a $20 correspondence course in drawing, and while a student at Oklahoma A. & M. University contributed cartoons to The Daily Oklahoman in Oklahoma City.

In 1921 he transferred to Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., having decided, he said, that ''I wanted to get rich, and the way to do that was to draw cartoons that The Chicago Tribune would syndicate.'' While finishing college, Mr. Gould had a series of small jobs drawing for newspapers and commercial art studios. In 1924 he was hired by the Hearst Corporation to draw ''Fillum Fables,'' a syndicated comic strip for King Features, a division of Hearst, that burlesqued the movies. That strip, along with another he created later called ''Radio Cats,'' were ''strictly stinkeroo,'' Mr. Gould said. All the while, he kept trying to get the attention of Joseph Medill Patterson, a co-editor of The Chicago Tribune and founder of The Daily News in New York. Mr. Gould bombarded his office with ideas for comic strips. In 1929 Mr. Gould went so far as to quit his job and follow Mr. Patterson to New York, where the artist submitted five comic strips to him. All were turned down, and Mr.

Gould returned to Chicago and a job with The Chicago Daily News as a staff artist. 'Serious' Dick Tracy “Dick Tracy” Collection Donated to the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum | Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum Blog Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum Blog Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum 1813 N. High Street For Immediate Release: February 4, 2014 “DICK TRACY” COLLECTION DONATED TO THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY BILLY IRELAND CARTOON LIBRARY & MUSEUM The family of the late Dick Tracy cartoonist Chester Gould has donated a substantial collection of original Dick Tracy comic strips and related materials to The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (BICLM). Gould wrote and drew Dick Tracy, one of the most popular and successful newspaper comic strips of all time, from 1931 until his retirement in 1977. Chester Gould’s daughter, Jean Gould O’Connell, along with her son Tracy O’Connell and daughter Sue Sanders, made the decision to gift the Chester Gould Collection to Ohio State. The collection consists of more than 850 original Dick Tracy comic strips along with 64 original Sunday strips.

Highlights include the original art for the first 30 days of the strip and Gould’s drawing board on whichDick Tracy was created, written and drawn for 46 years. “As I got older, the time had come for me to make a decision about where to place my father’s work,” said Jean Gould O’Connell. “After traveling to Ohio State, my family and I were extremely impressed with the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum. I know my father would have been very proud to have his work in such a prestigious place.” Added Tracy O’Connell, “The material left our family with emotion, but with the knowledge my grandfather’s work will be accessible to the public as he originally intended.” The Chester Gould Collection will be housed in BICLM’s secure, climate-controlled storage space, which is part of the new library and museum facility. The materials will be catalogued and made available to researchers in the coming months. “We are truly honored that Mrs. O’Connell has entrusted the Gould family’s collection to us,” said BICLM’s Curator and Associate Professor Jenny E. Robb.

“These works of art and unique historical materials will delight researchers, fans, and visitors, and will be preserved for future generations to enjoy.” Ohio State Vice Provost and Director of Libraries Carol Pitts Diedrichs said the enormously popular strip is a welcome addition to the BICLM collection. “It is wonderful that such a noteworthy donation as this is being added to the largest collection of cartoon art and comics material in the world,” said Diedrichs. “As one of the treasures of the BICLM, the Gould Collection can be viewed and studied by students and scholars from around the world.” The Comic Art Price Guide author Jerry Weist wrote about the significance of the Dick Tracy comic strip, saying, “Anchored by some of the strongest inking in the history of comic strip art, Gould created a timeless black and white world of good versus evil that still captivates the art-lover’s eye today – and his story pacing is impeccable, with some of the most suspenseful and gruesome sequences of any comic strip.” “To think that my grandfather’s creation, Dick Tracy, will be enjoyed and shared by generations to come is most exciting,” said Sue Sanders.

“It gives us comfort in knowing his work will be respected, treasured and beautifully cared for at the museum.” The collection is currently being catalogued and will be on display in the near future. Visit our website at for updates. Chester Gould’s drawing table and tabaret, on display at the entrance to our Treasures Gallery. About the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum: The BICLM is one of The Ohio State University Libraries’ special collections. Its primary mission is to develop a comprehensive research collection of materials documenting American printed cartoon art (editorial cartoons, comic strips, comic books, graphic novels, sports cartoons, and magazine cartoons) and to provide access to these collections. The BICLM recently moved into its newly-renovated 30,000 sq. ft. facility that includes a museum with three exhibition galleries, a reading room for researchers, and a state-of-the-art collections storage space. The library reading room is open Monday-Friday from 9 am to 5 pm and Sunday from 1-5 pm. See for further information. About The Ohio State University: The Ohio State University is a dynamic community of diverse resources, where opportunity thrives and where individuals transform themselves and the world.

Founded in 1870, Ohio State is a world-class public research university and the leading comprehensive teaching and research institution in the state of Ohio. With more than 63,000 students (including 57, 000 in Columbus), the Wexner Medical Center, 14 colleges, 80 centers and 175 majors, the university offers its students tremendous breadth and depth of opportunity in the liberal arts, the sciences and the professions. Featured Articles about Chester Gould - Page 4 - tribunedigital-chicagotribune Golf Outing Aids Museum On Dick Tracy By A digest of coming events, compiled by Barb Szul | July 9, 2000 Flattop, Pruneface and other villains from the "Dick Tracy" comic strip will be on hand for "Crimestoppers Dick Tracy 2000 Shootout and Good Guys Dinner Auction" on Monday at the Bull Valley Golf Club. Funds raised will benefit the Chester Gould-Dick Tracy Museum, a not-for-profit organization, in Woodstock. Among the museum's goals are to develop a program for children that will teach crime prevention and personal safety tips.

The fee is $250 for golf, lunch and dinner, and $50 for dinner only. Advertisement A Matter Of Inches By D.A. Hall | May 28, 1985 The Tribune printed a nice obituary for cartoonist Chester Gould that included some interesting background data on his "Dick Tracy" comic strip. But the write-up missed an important factor in the longevity of Dick Tracy. The clue is in Dick Tracy's hats. In the shootouts, the bad guy always shot first and put a bullet hole in the crown of Tracy's hat. Over the years he collected those perforated mementos and decorated the wall of his den with them. The point is, Dick Tracy survived because he is short! NEWS Chalk Art Contest Will Draw Attention By Barb Szul | June 18, 2000 A sidewalk chalk art contest focusing on Dick Tracy characters and a law-and-order theme will be held Saturday outside the Old Court House Arts Center on the Square. Anyone ages 5 to 18 who wants to enter may report to the Chester Gould-Dick Tracy Museum, 101 N. Johnson St., on the day of the event.

Colored chalk will be provided, and prizes will be awarded in elementary, junior high and high school divisions. For information, call 815-338-8281. ---------- 2 p.m. Saturday, outside the Old Court House Arts Center. NEWS Cartoon Exhibit Is Crowd Draw By A digest of coming events, compiled by Brad Webber | June 18, 2000 The Chester Gould-Dick Tracy Museum in Woodstock will draw on the talents of cartoonists of all ages during a free exhibit opening Friday night in the Old Court House Arts Center, 101 N. Johnson St. "Cartoons and Junior Cartoons" includes original works from comic-book legends as well as neophytes. Showcased from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Friday will be cartoons by luminaries such as Chester Gould, Dale Messick ("Brenda Starr"), Bil Keane ("Family Circus"), Mort Walker ("Beetle Bailey") NEWS `Dick Tracy' Criminals Bite The Dust At Gould Museum By A digest of coming events, compiled by Brad Webber | October 25, 1998 Tombstones commemorating 16 rogues from the "Dick Tracy" comic strip will fill a villains' graveyard in an outdoor exhibit at the Chester Gould Dick Tracy Museum in Woodstock. Visitors can study the gag tombstones remembering such foes of the square-jawed detective as Spaldoni, The Brow, Shakey, Itchy, Gargles, Mumbles and Mrs. Pruneface. The idea for interring the cartoon crooks originated when the late Col. Robert R. McCormick, editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune, asked Dick Tracy creator and artist Gould why he didn't have a graveyard to dispose of the criminals killed off in the strip. FEATURES Grave conclusions: Some of the most notorious characters...

By Steve Stanek | October 25, 1998 Grave conclusions: Some of the most notorious characters of the gangster era were given a resting place in a hastily built graveyard outside Woodstock nearly 50 years ago, and today and Oct. 29-Nov. 1, reminders of their sinister spirits will rise in the Woodstock Square. Fictional they may have been, but Flattop, Gargles, Mumbles, BB Eyes and another dozen "Dick Tracy" comic strip criminals captured the imaginations of millions of newspaper readers in the 1930s and 1940s. Their creator, the late Chester Gould, built a graveyard for his killed-off characters in 1949 as a gag for a Chicago Tribune executive party at his estate in what is now Bull Valley. NEWS All-points Bulletin: Dick Tracy Days By A digest of coming events, compiled by Jerry Crimmins | June 15, 1997 The annual Dick Tracy Days is on.

The five days of events include band concerts, a program on cartooning and the history of comics for 7- to 13-year-olds, pig races, a Corvette show, fire and rescue district water fights, a parade and a drum and bugle corps pageant. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, band concert, Town Square, Illinois Highway 47 to Calhoun Street, turn left. Free. 11 a.m. to noon Friday, cartooning and comics program, Old Court House Arts Center, Town Square. Cost is $15 for residents or $23 for non-residents. FEATURES Radio Show Replays The Days Of Dick Tracy By Steve Stanek. Special to the Tribune | September 22, 1996 For two hours last weekend at the Woodstock Opera House, Colleen Donovan, 70, of Barrington Hills remembered her youth in Iowa, where her father had his own radio program. "That was 50 some years ago," Donovan said, "before television. I just loved radio.

This has taken me back to those good old days, when the whole family would gather round the radio and listen to great shows." Donovan was speaking during intermission of a performance by the Those Were the Days Radio Players of Lake County, whose re-enactments of classic radio skits set the mood for a Chester Gould-Dick Tracy Museum fundraiser attended by about 120 people. NEWS Dick Tracy fest brings out area artists By Christine Des Garennes. Special to the Tribune | June 21, 2002 Starting Friday night, the walls of the art gallery in Woodstock's Old Court House Arts Center will be covered with cartoons created by budding artists and a collection of whimsical hats decorated by children and adults. The Junior Cartoons and Hats Off exhibits will be presented in conjunction with Dick Tracy Days, Woodstock's five-day festival honoring the late Chester Gould, a village resident who created the "Dick Tracy" comic strip. Organized by the Chicago chapter of the National Cartoonists Society and the Chester Gould-Dick Tracy Museum in Woodstock, Junior Cartoons highlights young cartoonists from the area, museum director Beth Vargo said. NEWS Dick Tracy fest set for Woodstock By Mary Alice Benoit.

Special to the Tribune | June 20, 2001 Since 1931, cartoon detective Dick Tracy has been keeping city streets safe from crime, but it was the quiet streets of Woodstock that the cartoon's creator, Chester Gould, called home for 50 years. Accordingly, the residents of Woodstock will honor the late Gould and his creation with its annual Dick Tracy Days festival through this weekend. As part of the festivities, the Chester Gould-Dick Tracy Museum in Woodstock will hold an exhibit of cartoon-inspired art by children and local artists from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday. Villains Gallery | Chester Gould Dick Tracy Museum MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2016 The Villains of the Dick Tracy Universe Chester Gould, in over nearly a half-century of writing and drawing the Dick Tracy strip, created perhaps the most formidable list of villains in American literature. The first was BIG BOY, whose gang killed Emil Trueheart and kidnapped Tess. A character of the early 1930’s, BIG BOY was a combination of Al Capone, Bugs Moran and other notorious gangsters.

With the cover of crooked politicians and lawyers, it took over two years for Dick Tracy to finally put this criminal out of business. Along the way, Tracy was framed by STOOGE VILLER and suspended from the police department, later reinstated with help from Tess and Junior. Through the years, the parade included the saboteurs PRUNEFACE and KARPSE, the foppishly handsome cad EDWARD NUREMOH, who was briefly married to Tess, the con man SHAKY, the grotesque LITTLEFACE, the MOLE (who eventually went straight), the tough guy SHOULDERS and MUMBLES, who required a translation for nearly everything he said. There were the hipsters—88 KEYES, a crooked, itinerant piano-player, and FLATTOP JONES, a ruthless killer and one of Dick Tracy readers’ all-time favorites. FLATTOP was so popular that Chet brought back the character as FLATTOP JR., son of the original.

The villains were usually ugly characters, drawn that way because Chet said that “crime is ugly.” He sometimes deviated from this rule, such as with the beautiful BREATHLESS MAHONEY, but anyone who saw PRUNEFACE or FLATTOP in a strip knew that these were bad people. The list could go on and on, and all of Chet’s characters have been admirably described in Vic Wichert’s “Dick Tracy Encyclopedia.” Viewers to the website will enjoy the following images of these memorable characters, created by the genius of Chester Gould. All biographies adapted and reprinted with permission from the author Victor E. Wichert, “The Dick Tracy Encyclopedia, Oct. 4, 1931 – Dec. 25, 1977.” Dick Tracy is a registered trademark of Tribune Media Services, Inc. “The nation that controls magnetism will control the universe”* | College of Engineering “The nation that controls magnetism will control the universe”* in NEWS Many of you may have heard of the cartoon character Dick Tracy.

Chester Gould created the character and from 1931 until 1977 it ran in a large number of daily newspapers and was one of the most popular cartoon strips ever drawn. (Sadly, It won’t be long before one will need to remind readers what a newspaper is as well as who Dick Tracy was). Dick Tracy was a detective and crime fighter who used advanced technology (for his day) to keep the world safe. Chester Gould was quite visionary and anticipated many technologies that would later become reality such as the 2-way wrist radio (the cell phone), atomic light (laser), portable surveillance camera, closed circuit TV for police lineups, electronic telephone number tracking (caller ID) and magnetic space propulsion. It was this last invention that gave rise to the famous quote in the title. Moore’s Law and the exponential growth in semiconductor technology is undoubtedly known to you all but there has been a similar growth in storage density in magnetic materials with a halving in cost every 15 months.

Thus the trends in magnetic storage are every bit as fast as Moore’s Law and, in fact, if they had not been, the point of developing semiconductor technology would have largely been absent because without cheap, fast storage computation would grind to a halt. At BU we are working on trying to understand magnetic materials on atomic length scales and figure out how to control single atomic spins. Someday we hope to be able to usefully store information (zeros or ones) in a single magnetic spin. That day is a ways off but we are developing the fundamental understanding that will make this dream possible. One of the most interesting recent results has come out of work done by Linda Doerrer and her group. In this work**,Linda and her coworkers have studied the magnetic coupling between magnetic ions (Cobalt or Nickel) at each end of a complex molecule. What they see is that the magnetic ions couple anti-ferromagnetically from one side of the molecule to the other. In ferromagnets, the spins align in the same direction and in antiferromagnetics they align in the opposite direction (head to tail) the way refrigerator magnets do.

What is interesting in this result is that the atoms between the magnetic ones in the molecule are Platinum which are not normally, or in this case, magnetic and so the coupling between the magnets is through a non-magnetic intermediary. In addition, the coupling is non-covalent which is a fancy way to say the electrons are not shared by the atoms and so the obvious mechanisms one might imagine for how the spins could couple are absent. Why is this interesting? Firstly, the basic physics is interesting because whenever we find an exception to generally accepted beliefs we have an opportunity to get smarter and this will certainly do that for us. From an application point of view, things like magnetic storage and quantum computing will require is to be able to control and read out spin information from single atomic spins and understanding the coupling between them is a crucial first step towards that goal. What is interesting about spin information in molecules is that because of their structure, the alignments between the constituent atoms and spins is quite precise and very reproducible and so one imagines it will be easier to create a practical technology where the interactions between the spins is what we are interested in. Nature builds molecules more precisely than we could ever artificially build nano-scopic devices and this approach is likely to be important going forward.

Understanding this type of science may not let us control the entire universe but it may let us control an important and interesting corner of it. Cheers, Gould, Chester | The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture KeywordsOklahoma environment Charles Gould petroleum geology Geological Survey Panhandle oil gas field GOULD, CHESTER (1900â1985). Commercial artist and creator of the Dick Tracy comic strip, Chester Gould, son of Gilbert R. and Alice Miller Gould, was born November 20, 1900, in Pawnee, Oklahoma. Because his father was a weekly newspaper editor, the younger Gould later stated that "it was probably that influence which got me into the frame of mind to become a cartoonist." At age fifteen Gould enrolled in a twenty-dollar correspondence course in drawing. While attending Oklahoma A&M College (now Oklahoma State University), he contributed cartoons to the Daily Oklahoman. In 1921 he transferred to Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where he majored in business administration. After graduating, he immediately went to work for newspapers.

In 1931, when gangsters and prohibition made the news, Gould decided to create a character who could do what the Chicago police could not, catch the mobsters. He submitted his idea, entitled "Plain Clothes Tracy" to the Chicago TribuneâNew York News Syndicate. The editor liked the idea but changed the title to "Dick Tracy" and ran the comic strip on October 12, 1931. Dick Tracy's image became famous because of Gould's grotesque villains, such as Prune Face and Mole, portraying mobsters of the time. The comic strip followed current events. Using headlines such as the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby, Gould made Tracy the hero of the era. In 1977 Gould retired and moved to his 130-acre farm at Woodstock, Illinois. He died there on May 11, 1985. He did not live to see his comic strip adapted to the big screen in 1990 or his creation immortalized on the side of the Prairie Rose building in Pawnee, Oklahoma. Gould did leave behind almost half a century of comic strip drawing and writing, and he set the standard for detective comics.

Adam A. Payne Bibliography Arthur T. Broes, "Dick Tracy: The Early Years," Journal of Popular Culture 25 (1992). Ron Goulart, ed., The Encyclopedia of American Comics (New York City: Facts on File, Inc., 1990). "Chester Gould," Vertical File, Research Division, Oklahoma Historical Society, Oklahoma City. Martin Sheridan, Classic Comics and Their Creators: Life Stories of American Cartoonists from the Golden Age (Arcadia, Calif.: Post-Era Books, 1973). Copyright and Terms of Use No part of this site may be construed as in the public domain. Copyright to all articles and other content in the online and print Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History is held by the Oklahoma Historical Society. This includes individual articles (copyright to OHS by author assignment) and corporately (as a complete body of work), including web design, graphics, searching functions, and listing/browsing methods. Copyright to all of these materials is protected under United States and International law.

Users agree not to download, copy, modify, sell, lease, rent, reprint, or otherwise distribute these materials, or to link to these materials on another web site, without authorization of the Oklahoma Historical Society. Individual users must determine if their use of the Materials falls under United States copyright law's "Fair Use" guidelines and does not infringe on the proprietary rights of the Oklahoma Historical Society as the legal copyright holder of The Encyclopedia and part or in whole. Photo credits: All photographs presented in the published and online Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture are the property of the Oklahoma Historical Society and are held in the agency's Research Division Photo Archives. Citation The following (as per The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition) is the preferred citation for articles: Adam A. Payne, "Gould, Chester," The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, (accessed January 14, 2017). © Copyright Oklahoma Historical Society 2009. Chester Gould (1900 - 1985) - Find A Grave Memorial McHenry County Illinois, USA Cartoonist. He is best known for creating the "Dick Tracy" cartoon strip.

Born in Pawnee, Oklahoma, he spent 10 years working on various comic strips at the Chicago �Tribune�-New York �News� Syndicate under editor Joseph Medill Patterson before creating "Dick Tracy" in 1931. (Patterson shortened the first name from his original "Plainclothes Tracy" to the then nickname for detective, and the result was comic strip immortality.) Armed with sidekick �Pat Patton� and then Sam �Catchem�, �Dick Tracy's� hawk nose and square chin symbolized straight-arrow law and order. Chester Gould's strip broke new ground with realistic, mangy villains and gritty violence. His artistic style developed into a stark black and white, reflecting the artist's own conservative values of right and wrong. Most of all, "Dick Tracy" introduced a legendary rogues gallery of evildoers for all time: �the Blank�, �Flattop�, �Pruneface�, �Mumbles�, �Brow�, �Influence�, �Shaky�, �Mrs.

Pruneface�, �the Mole�, �Pearshape�, �Breathless Mahoney�, �Jerome Trohs� and �Mama�, �Itchy� and countless others. He also voyaged into science fiction with the two-way wrist radio, TV and computer, the less-successful space coupe, and trips to the Moon. Chester Gould retired from "Dick Tracy" in 1977, and his feature has been made into radio shows, television cartoons and movies, most recently Warren Beatty's 1990 motion picture version. He died in Woodstock, Illinois, where a museum is devoted to his work. (bio by: LincolnFan)

Question: Who is the most famous cartoon creation of Chester Gould?
Answer: Dick Tracy